Deaths resulting from motor vehicle crashes are at their highest in nearly a decade, according to preliminary data released by the National Safety Council on Wednesday. The increase for 2016 combines with the jump in 2015 to add up to the largest two-year increase in motor vehicle-related deaths in 53 years, an increase NSC President and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman noted in a release is at least partly attributable to “complacency” on the part of drivers.
The preliminary numbers from the NSC aren’t final, and the organization says that it’ll experience slight increases or decreases as more data comes in and more analysis is performed. But the estimates usually don’t see dramatic shifts, so you can expect their early estimate of roughly 40,000 motor vehicle deaths in 2016 to remain consistent. The tally represents a 6 percent increase over last year, and a 14 percent bump when compared to the numbers from two years ago in 2014.